Art Hounds

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.One-act plays in WinonaDaryl Lanz, owner of Chapter Two Books in Winona, is glad to see Theatre Du Mississippi’s One Act Play Festival returning for a second year. Playwrights from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa submitted original work earlier this winter, and the winning four short plays will be performed together to make a performance running about two hours.The result is a grab-bag of comedy and drama by regional writers ranging from 10 to 50 minutes. Shows will be performed at the Valencia Arts Center’s Academy Theatre in Winona this weekend and next, Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.  A family of artistsVisual artist Fawzia Khan of Hopkins recommends the exhibit “Reflections and Conversations: Monica Rudquist and Jerry Rudquis

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Artists at work Diane Richard of St. Paul worked for 21 years at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), and she wants people to know about “Artists at Work: the Mia Staff Art Show.” It’s tucked away in the community commons area just past the cafe and the family center (pro tip: you can bring your lunch with you to the exhibit!) The show runs through April 13. Diane explains: You might never have thought about it, but the people who work in museums are often artists themselves — and good ones, too. They work as security guards, and they create public programs, hang art on the walls, help you figure out where you’re going, and sell you stuff in the shop. And they work in everything from oil painting to watercolor and prints, ceramic sculpture to embr

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Take your valentine somewhere that’s green Writer and art lover Susan Montag recommends the work of Theatre 55, a Twin Cities-based theater company whose shows all feature casts of actors over age 55. Their production of the musical “Little Shop of Horrors” is playing at the Gremlin Theatre in St. Paul through Feb. 22. She’s particularly looking forward to hearing vocalist Patricia Lacy, who is known for her work with Luther Vandross and with Sounds of Blackness, sing out “Feed me, Seymour,” when she plays the hungry plant from outer space, Audrey II.  Susan says: I’ve seen a lot of the Theatre 55 shows. They are always so much fun. I like to see on the stage the folks who represent someone in my age group, showing that people over 55 are still very

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Somebody Say HallelujahLinda Sloan of Hopkins, Minn., is the executive director for the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage. She predicts audiences will be on their feet at the Fitzgerald Theater in St Paul this weekend, moved by “The Sound of Gospel: An Anthology Depicting the Rich History and Evolution of Gospel Music.”The play is written by Rev. William H. Pierce of 2nd Chance Outreach and directed by Academy Award-nominated artist Jevetta Steele, with musical direction by Grammy Award-winning artist Billy Steele. The all-ages show will be performed Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 9 at 3 p.m. Linda says: I cannot say enough about this performance. It is amazing. When I went to the show a couple years ago, I was just blown away

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Flute takes center stageRoma Duncan is a piccolo player in the Minnesota Orchestra. She recommends a concert this Sunday where the flute will take center stage. Flutist Adam W. Sadberry, accompanied by Joe Williams on piano, will perform this month’s Coffee Concert at the Lakeville Area Arts Center, Sunday, Feb. 2 at 2 p.m.  Roma says: Adam’s really put together an interesting program with a lot of music from Black composers. Perhaps the one that catches my attention most is the finisher on the program, “Wish: Sonatine” by Valerie Coleman. Valerie is a living composer. She’s a Black woman who is a flutist and a composer, and she’s gotten a ton of attention in recent years with with great reason; she always has such engaging, exciting works.  One of t

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.The River Connects Us Jim Voegeli of Rochester visited to Winona Arts Center recently to see the opening of a photography and poetry exhibition entitled “The River Connects Us.” Retired environmental engineer Pete Mutschler spent six years taking photographs along the full length of the Mississippi River, and for the past two years retired state demographer and poet Tom Gillaspy has written poems to pair with the photographs. The resulting 26 images and poems are on display through March 2 at the Winona Arts Center, which is open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends.   Voegeli appreciated both artistic halves of the exhibit. He says the enlarged photographs, encompassing all types of transportation along the river, “looked almost like paintings.” The ti

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.This play is

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Actually a very active lifeLife-long art lover Ted Pfohl of Little Falls wholeheartedly recommends that people see the work of Charles Gilbert Kapsner while it’s on view at Studio Pintura Fine Art Gallery in the Northrup King Building in northeast Minneapolis. Kapsner is based in Little Falls but trained in Florence, Italy in the studio of Nerina Simi (1890-1987). The retrospective includes over 30 still lives, portraits and other works, gathered under the title of “Odyssey — A 50-Year Artist’s Journey: Not a Still Life!” The show’s run has been extended through Feb 8. Ted Pfohl muses on the odyssey of Kapsner’s work: I can in all integrity state that I am captivated by the stories within the works of Master Artist Kapsner, a designation earned withi

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Authoring and illustrating childhoodArt fan Deborah Bartels of St Paul took a delightful trip The Kerlan, which is one of the premier collections of children’s literature, housed in the Elmer L. Anderson Library on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota. Called “Journey to Joy: Rise, Relevance, Representation in Children’s Picture Books,” the exhibit is open Monday-Friday 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., with docent-led tours available by appointment each day at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Please note: the Kerlan is closed on weekends and from Dec. 21-Jan 1 for the University’s holiday break. Deborah describes. the exhibit: The entrance to the exhibit welcomes viewers with life-sized, colorful cut-outs of joyful children doing cartwheels and reaching for the stars. A

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.An arts retreatAndrew Rosendorf of Minneapolis says he wouldn’t be the playwright he is today without the support he received early in his career from the Tofte Lake Center.He wants artists at all levels of their career to know that applications for next summer’s artist retreats are open now through the end of December. Andrew says: I just want you to imagine going to a pristine lake near Ely, Minnesota, that’s adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. You paddleboard, you canoe, you wade feet into the lake. You sit around a fire pit at night looking up at the crystal-clear night sky, like you’re at a planetarium. And you also get a work on your art surrounded by a community of artists. That’s Tofte Lake Center. I find it’s a soul-center

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.The M’s new wing triples its exhibit space in downtown St. Paul Architectural historian Marjorie Pearson of St. Paul wants people to know that the new, expanded wing of the Minnesota Museum of Art, commonly known as the M, is now open in the historic arcade of the Endicott building in downtown St. Paul. The major renovation triples the available exhibit space for Minnesota’s oldest art museum. The exhibit in the new wing, entitled “Here, Now,” features 150 works from the M’s permanent collection, ranging across centuries and styles. The museum is open Thursdays through Sundays and admission is free. When you visit, Marjorie recommends you take time to admire the architecture in addition to the art.Marjorie says: This is a premier office building that

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Hankering for a crankeringNorah Rendell is the executive artistic director of the Center for Irish Music in St. Paul. She saw — and loved — the original storytelling musical “The Well Tree” by the Heartwood Trio last spring.  The trio consists of Sarina Partridge of Minneapolis, Heidi Wilson of Vermont and Willie Clemetson of Maine. They’re back for performances of “The Well Tree” tonight at 7 p.m. at the Twin Cities Friends Meeting House in St. Paul and Friday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at New City Center/Walker Church in Minneapolis. Norah says she imagines the acoustics of the church venues will be well-suited for a show with beautiful harmonies. Norah says: It’s an original singing story performance that includes songs and instruments and acting and illu

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Dance a mile in another’s shoesErinn Liebhard is the artistic and executive director of Rhythmically Speaking, a jazz and American social dance-based company. She’s looking forward to the Threads Dance Project’s fall show, “Impressions,” this Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Luminary Arts Center in Minneapolis. Erinn elaborates: Their artistic director, Karen L. Charles, is a really fascinating artist. She was a mathematician and statistician who ended up shifting into dance education and eventually was able to open her own company. So she’s got a really sort of methodical yet artistic way of creating choreography.Something that I love about Threads’ work is that I feel like it’s really artistic and accessible at the same

This week’s Art Hounds look at an art exhibit about a walk along the Mississippi, Gilbert and Sullivan relocated to Scotland and a blend of concert band and technology.

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Portraits of immigrationRachel Coyne, a writer and painter in Lindstrom, loves outdoor arts events. She’s looking forward to seeing Cadex Herrera’s outdoor exhibition on the campus of the White Bear Center for the Arts in the north metro. “First Person Plural” features 10 larger-than-life black-and-white murals, each featuring the faces of immigrants living in White Bear Lake, where Herrera also used to live. The installation is intended to honor the diversity of immigrants in the area and their contributions. Herrera also directed a documentary about the project, which will be on view. The exhibit opens to the public Thursday with an artist event and celebration from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.  Rachel says: I just like the idea that, you know, this could be s

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Let’s meet at the Halloween Tree Kira Pontiff of St. Paul is a self-described occasional actress and full-time lover of all things autumnal and Halloween. She was thrilled to catch a rehearsal of the play “The Halloween Tree,” which she described as a magical Halloween adventure.It’s playing at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis, Oct. 20 – 27. The world-premiere play is adapted from Ray Bradbury’s 1972 novel of the same name. The 90-minute show is recommended for ages 8 and up. Kira describes the show: A group of trick-or-treaters meet up on Halloween night, and they get taken on a magical Halloween adventure by a very mysterious character who takes them through time and to different locations to teach them about the origins of Halloween, how differ

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here.Not your kids’ Halloween play Actor Julie Ann Nevill of St Paul is looking forward to getting into the Halloween spirit when the play “Broomstick” opens Thursday at the Open Eye Theatre in Minneapolis. The one-woman play features Cheryl Willis as a witch telling the story of her long life. The show is recommended for ages 14 and up. It runs through Halloween night, with a mask-required performance Sunday. Julie Ann says: “It is billed as both a spooky and hilarious comedy. I am very intrigued by that. So many things around Halloween become kid-centric, and there are many of us adults, myself included, for whom this is our favorite holiday. And so we want something like this that speaks to us and not just to, you know, the small children or the family

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here. Click hereGrief without words Theatermaker Kurt Engh saw The Moving Company’s performance of “SPEECHLESS” in 2017, and he’s thrilled the show is back again. The show opens Friday and runs through Nov. 10 at the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis. As the name implies, the play is entirely without words, but the emotions run deep. Kurt explains: Someone passes away in the play, and that person is ironically or symbolically named Hope. I think it’s intentionally left to be ambiguous. The play is about five people going through grief in this very melodramatic but real way, and they find that the only way forward is to support themselves, but also support each other. The play shows how people are able to support each other when they don’t even know what to sa

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here. Divine narratives in theaterSuzy Messerole, co-artistic director of Exposed Brick Theatre, is raving about the play “A Walless Church: The Black Woman’s Guide to Making God.” The original play was written by AriDy Nox and developed at the Playwright Center, and it includes music by Queen Drea. The play runs through Oct. 13 at the Pillsbury House +Theatre. Suzy says: It is a beautiful combination of ritual and movement and storytelling. It is about three godlings that come back to Earth, and they are exploring how Black women experience divinity, so they are here searching for the divine. There is an incredible ritual that happens, really gorgeous movement, and there’s also three concrete storylines that you can really latch onto. There’s all kinds o

From MPR News, Art Hounds are members of the Minnesota arts community who look beyond their own work to highlight what’s exciting in local art. Their recommendations are lightly edited from the audio heard in the player above. Want to be an Art Hound? Submit here. Click here.Remembering the Great Hinckley Fire and those who saved lives Christine Wade of Elision Playhouse was able to see snippets of Bucket Brigade Theater’s original play “Survivors of the Fire” when it was at the Hinckley Fire Museum, and she’s looking forward to the full production at Art House North in St. Paul. The play with music tells the stories of people who died and people who saved lives during the great Hinckley Fire of 1894, which was 130 years ago this month. The show runs Sept. 20-Oct. 12. Christine says:  This play tells the story of the tragedy and the people that died in the fire — anywhere from 400 to 600 people, they don’t really know for sure — and also the heroism of people who saved a lot of lives. The show tells stories t